The prediction of self-reported recycling behaviors was examined using variations and expansions of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior. Three hundred and forty-eight residents from the Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties in Oregon completed a questionnaire that assessed attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, self-reports of recycling behavior, moral obligation and past behavior. Recycling behaviors and intentions were grouped into three categories of difficulty by a factor analysis. Structural equation analysis did not support Ajzen's model. It was found that although attitudes was correlated with the antecedent variables, it did not directly influence intentions or behaviors. Perceived behavioral control had the largest direct influence on behavior. Subjective norms had the greatest direct influence on intentions. Past behavior, as measured, was not significantly related to any variable in the model. The inclusion of moral obligation added significantly to the ability to predict recycling behavior. Moral obligation directly influenced subjective norms, attitude, perceived behavioral control and behavior. The results suggest that programs that aim to increase recycling behaviors should focus on: the community good as the motivation for recycling, the impacts of the individual's recycling behavior on community resources, the "how to's" of recycling, and supplying services and information about those services.

The efficacy of five different types of interventions for increasing the number of participants and the quantity of recyclables collected in a corporate-based recycling program were compared. Employees at a corporate research center (N=443) associated with a large state university were asked to bring aluminum cans, glass, and newspaper from home to bins located at work. In addition, in order to track individual employee's recycling behavior, they were asked to write identifying information on each bag of recyclables (i.e., last 4 digits of social security number or a computer identification name). Interventions included appeal messages, two kinds of reciprocity interventions, goals plus feedback, and raffles. A quasi-experimental, modified multiple baseline design was used. More specifically, interventions were given to one building first, and then after a delay, they were administered to the other three buildings simultaneously. Program and intervention information were disseminated by either traditional office memos, electronic mail, or phone mail. Results indicated that only a small percentage of employees participated in the program, and raffles were the only interventions that reliably increased the number of participants and quantity of recyclables. In the hope of being able to predict which employees would participate in the recycling program, prior to the interventions, employees were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing attitudes towards recycling and person variables. More specifically, employees' optimism, environmental concern, beliefs regarding their ability to control environmental outcomes (i.e., “environmental locus of control"), and psychological reactance were assessed. Mean scores on the environmental concern and environmental locus of control scales indicated that employees were quite concerned about the environment and believed that their behavior could have a positive impact on it. Although psychological reactance scores reliably depended on employees’ recycling status (i.e., whether they were non-participants in the recycling program, infrequent participants, or frequent participants), neither it nor any of the other variables could accurately differentiate participants from non-participants in the program. Reasons for the low participation rates and the discrepancy between person variables and participation were discussed, and suggestions for improving future research in this area were made. / Ph. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of corporate-based recycling for communities without access to curb-side pick up of recyclable material. The secondary purpose was to use the taxonomy of behavior change strategies as devised by Geller et al. (1990a, b). The hypotheses of the study were as follows: 1) corporate-based recycling is an effective means of dealing with residential waste management in a rural community, 2) the effectiveness of one behavior change technique with a score of three (as proposed in the Taxonomy of Behavior Change Techniques) will be the same as an intervention package comprised of several techniques with a score of three, 3) the smaller the company, the more effective the intervention package and, 4) salaried employees will deposit more recyclable materials per person at the drop-off site than wage employees. Recycling drop off sites were established at the work place of rural residents as an alternative to curb-side pick up of recyclable material. Three sites chosen were located in a rural community in Southwestern Virginia. Two of the companies produced machine parts (n= 220, n=300). The third company produced printed material (n=32). Each company had both male and female wage and salaried employees with varying ages and levels of income. Recyclable materials (clear glass, green glass, brown glass and aluminum cans) were collected in four 33 gallon barrels in the parking lot of each company every Friday and weighed at the county collection center. In an attempt to motivate participation in the recycling program, the employees were informed of the availability of the barrels, given written prompts in the form of paycheck inserts and posters, and given group feedback in the form of a poster showing the weekly amount of each material collected at an individual company. One company also received a group meeting to promote consensus and to determine the weakness of the project. All prompts and feedback were given as a package at discrete periods of time in a multiple baseline design by groups. The intervention package was given twice at one site to determine the impact of repeated exposure to the intervention materials. Findings of the study indicated an erratic pattern of participation across the three sites. One site had such low participation that it was dropped from the study. The intervention packages did not significantly increase participation and the differences between wage and salaried employees were insignificant. It must be concluded that while some employees did participate in the recycling program refinements to both the interventions and the measurement techniques are needed. Directions for future research on the feasibility of corporate-based are discussed. / Master of Science